Burger King to Launch Veggie Burger, Add Reduced-Fat Mayonnaise

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Burger King Corporation and its franchisees are breaking new ground in the fast food category with the national launch of BK Veggie burger—the first veggie burger available nationally at a quick-service restaurant chain. The BK Veggie burger features the company's signature flame-broiled taste, along with a newly introduced reduced-fat mayonnaise.

The BK Veggie burger will debut in Burger King restaurants on Monday, March 18, 2002. The product features
a flame-broiled veggie burger patty with a blend of fresh vegetables, whole grains, and spices, topped with lettuce, tomatoes, and reduced-fat mayonnaise, on a sesame seed bun.

"This is a very exciting product introduction and menu enhancement that our customers told us they want from Burger King,'' said John H. Dasburg, chairman, CEO and president, Burger King Corporation. "By flame-broiling the BK Veggie burger, we assure our customers that now they can have a veggie burger that tastes great.''

"We are constantly looking for ways to add new taste and variety to our menu,'' said Christopher E. Clouser, executive vice president and chief global marketing officer for Burger King Corporation. `"BK Veggie burger is a completely new offering for a national fast food chain—something we know our consumers will enjoy, even avid hamburger lovers.''

"The introduction of the BK Veggie burger, along with the thirteen other new and improved products we have launched recently, is very exciting for the Burger King system,'' said Julian Josephson, chairman of the National Franchisee Association, an association of Burger King franchisees. "These products will allow us to provide our customers with greater variety and more reasons to visit our restaurants.

BK Veggie burger is a permanent addition to the Burger King restaurant menu, and its recommended price is $1.99. The introduction will be supported with a series of television commercials that feature several of the new products Burger King Corporation is launching, including the new BK Veggie burger, as well as a full-page ad in USA Today on March 18.

The addition of BK Veggie burger to the expanding Burger King menu reinforces the brand's new advertising tagline, ``@BKYOU GOT IT!,'' according to the company.

" '@BK, YOU GOT IT!' is more than just an advertising tagline, it's our company philosophy,'' said Clouser. "For
example, since the new BK Veggie burger comes with reduced fat mayonnaise—you can now order reduced-fat mayonnaise on any of the sandwiches on our menu, including the Whopper sandwich. At Burger King you can always 'HAVE IT YOUR WAY®'.''
"With the addition of our new ingredient—reduced fat mayonnaise—the number of ways to order and enjoy a
Whopper sandwich now grows from 1024 to 1,537,'' Clouser said. The new reduced fat mayonnaise contains only three grams of fat, bringing the total grams of fat for the BK Veggie burger to just ten grams. The new BK Veggie
burger is also made without soy.

With its nine original special ingredients (sesame seed bun heel and crown, beef patty, pickles, ketchup, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and mayonnaise) and three optional ingredients (cheese, bacon, and mustard), Burger King Corporation calculated in the mid-seventies that there were 1,024 ways to order a Whopper. The variety of ways to have a Whopper sandwich prompted the company to introduce the "Have It Your Way" advertising tagline in 1974 with a song that started with the lyrics, "Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, special orders don't upset us.'' Over the years, Burger King Corporation has reprised the tune in its advertising several times.